Alastair Cook has welcomed the prospect of another turning pitch as England seek to take an unexpected 2-1 lead over India in Kolkata.

The tourists won the second Test in Mumbai after Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann claimed 19 wickets between them on a Wankhede Stadium surface that had supposedly been tailor-made for India's three-spin attack.

India's captain MS Dhoni has repeated his demands ahead of tomorrow's game for a pitch that turns from the start – a stance that has turned Eden Gardens's straight-talking curator Prabir Mukherjee into a headline act over the past few days.

Captain's job: Cook is hoping England can take a series lead in Kolkata

But England's experience in Mumbai was a reminder that turning pitches bring their own attack into the game more than the kind of slow, low surface they encountered during their nine-wicket defeat in the first Test at Ahmedabad.

'As I said in Mumbai, it gave us a great chance of winning as it was a result wicket,' said Cook. 'If you go in on real flat ones it can be very hard to get a result.

'Mumbai proved that a turning wicket gives both sides a chance. I'm not quite sure how this wicket will play. I don't think it will have the bounce Mumbai had - it hasn't got that red clay – but all the reports say that, especially after day three, it will turn. So that brings both our excellent spinners into the game.'

Picture dispute

We are unable to carry live pictures from England's tour of India due to a dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and international news organisations.

The BCCI has refused access to Test venues to established picture agencies Getty Images and Action Images and other Indian photographic agencies.

MailOnline consider this action to be a strike against press freedom and supports the action to boycott BCCI imagery.

If the talk post-Ahmedabad was of a 4-0
revenge whitewash for India after they were humiliated in England in
2011, the mood changed completely after the Mumbai Test.

Cook admitted: 'It's given us a lot of confidence, certainly, and a belief that what we're doing is the right stuff. But that doesn’t mean it'll count for anything when it comes to this game. Hopefully, this week we can continue that improvement.’

The England captain refused to be drawn, as ever, on the make-up of the England team, but it would be a major surprise now if Steven Finn does not play his first Test of the series following his recovery from a thigh injury in place of vice-captain Stuart Broad.

'It’s great that Finn is back fully fit,’ said Cook. 'It's disappointing that he’s missed two games, and we have some tough selection meetings ahead of us.

'He's got a little bit more pace than the other guys. And he's bowled well in the subcontinent, especially in the one-dayers.'

On the team sheet? Swann's in, but will Broad miss out?

Asked about Broad, whose figures in this series have been a below-par 36-2-157-0, Cook said: 'They've been tough wickets for seamers, and he’s been slightly unlucky in that he hasn’t been fully fit with some illnesses. He’s had a tough couple of games.

'But I saw a stat that he was the leading seamer wicket-taker in the world this year. It’s been a tough couple of games but I’m very glad he’s English.’

In fact, Broad’s haul of 40 Test wickets in 2012, at an average of 31, is now three behind South Africa’s Vernon Philander. But England are aware they will be making a big call by dropping their vice-captain and new-ball stalwart for the first time in four years.